King Gojulas
The King Gojulas is a Tyrannosaurus-type Zoid, one of over 200 species of fictional biomechanical lifeforms depicted in TOMY's Zoids model, toy, and media franchise. Highly sought after by collectors, it's notable for its involved construction, lights-and-sound features, and its place as one of the final two designs before the original line's cancellation. Overview The Helic Republic designed the King Gojulas to turn the tide in their war with the Guylos Empire. A massive Zoid with extreme Godzilla design influences like other Zoids in the Gojulas line, it boasted extremely thick armor and highly destructive rapid-fire weapons, as well as advanced sensors and sonic weaponry: the Super Sound Blaster was designed to amplify its roar to deadly volumes, rattling apart Zoids it couldn't reach to destroy in melee. In actual combat, it proved nigh-unstoppable, going down on record and in many promotional catalogue texts as the single strongest Zoid of its era. Battle Story The King Gojulas was deployed during the Republic's invasion of the Guylos Empire, making use of every possible piece of advanced technology at the time, to the point where it was hailed as "the greatest Zoid in history" in the technical data sections of its box. It lived up to its reputation, taking on and destroying large numbers of Dark Army Zoids as it continued on to the Empire capital unchallenged. Desperate, the Guylos forces prepared the Descat, planning to use the crushing power of its Super Gravity Bullet Cannon to halt the King Gojulas' advance. However, as the hour of the final confrontation drew near, a comet struck one of Zi's moons, raining down meteors and destroying large numbers of Zoids.Zoids timeline (Japanese, relevant sections start at ZAC 2056): http://www6.plala.or.jp/zephyrd/ZOIDS-nen.html The King Gojulas was likely among them. As of yet, it has yet to reappear in any new release battle story or fanbook content (except in flashback). Media Appearances The Zoid hasn't made a significant appearances in other media, though it is obtainable in several Game Boy/Game Boy Advance games (including Zoids Legacy) via completing extra portions of the game and/or entering special codes. Model Kit The King Gojulas is one of the largest model kits comparable in size to the Ultrasaurus, Madthunder and Gilvader. Probably the most iconic zoid model, it is highly sought-after by both fans and collectors and is the most expensive Zoid kit made by Takara Tomy to date. Vintage models fetch high prices on online auction sites. Original Japanese Release - Grade Ups *Assembly required. (Snap-together, no glue needed. Scissors or X-acto knife recommended for trimming off excess plastic bits.) *The model's colours are moulded into the plastic, and it does not need any paint. The King Gojulas kit comes with one body unit, eight frame sprues, one gear sprue, one instruction manual, thirty-two caps on a sprue, one sticker sheet, one horn, one pilot, two separate caps, two stoppers, two rubber rings and two large body halves which begins the construction. The model is quite complicated to build due to the large number of parts, the complexity of the design and the sheer size of the kit which makes maneuvering it while building difficult. Due to a molding flaw, the King Gojulas’ red horn can be easily broken. It uses two sources of power, two “C” sized batteries and two “AA” sized batteries for movement and sounds. Once activated, the Zoid walks forwards, arms swinging back and forth, tail moving from side to side, then it stops walking, the three chest-mounted guns starts to spin, opens both arms with head moving from side to side, opens the mouth and lets out a roar. The eyes also flash on and off. The King Gojulas is a part of the Grade-Up Series. These models have spinning connectors that are powered by the Zoid’s motor. Optional weapons systems can be mounted on these connectors that have action features powered by the Zoid’s motor. Grade-Up Zoids only have a single power connection port, the Gilvader is the only one that has three. No specific extra weapons were made for the King Gojulas, beyond the Grade-Up units that were used by all grade-up Zoids. Due to its design, the Zoid cannot use the GU-03 Eye Flasher, but is fully compatible with the others. First released in 1990. It was never sold in the United States. The kit was very expensive even then and was the largest model produced by Tomy. Limited production quickly made it a rarity becoming one of the most desirable Zoids figures for collectors after the run. Prototype King Gojulas Also known as Blue King Gojulas, it is a limited edition model having all the gray parts re-colored in light blue. Sold in Japan, it was once seen on Yahoo Japan. Not much was known about this model or how many were made. It was later discovered to be a contest prize from a Japanese magazine.Blue King Gojulas : http://pagesperso-orange.fr/Ultrasaurus.Red/LTDold.htm Rebirth Century Takara Tomy has recently re-issued the kit in September 2008 as part of their 25th anniversary celebration.Rebirth Century King Gojulas : http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/zoids/products/toy/rvc/hrz001.html The only main difference from the vintage model is the color of the secondary power switch from the original red to the present black. Image:KG1280.jpg|''RCZ'' King Gojulas Wallpaper References *Zoids timeline (Japanese, relevant sections start at ZAC 2056). *Blue King Gojulas *Rebirth Century King Gojulas External Links Video *Short video of King Gojulas in action. Toy Reviews *www.zoid.us *www.mechaworx.com *treswright.vervehosting.com *Japanese toy review (Translated) *Side by side comparison of all three models (Translated). Category:Zoids Category:Godzilla-Inspired Zoids Category:Helic Republic Zoids